 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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September 21, 2011 Ms. LeAnn M. Quinn City Secretary City of Cedar Park 600 North Bell Boulevard Cedar Park, Texas 78613 OR2011-13681 Dear Ms. Quinn: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 435284 (Reference No. 11-787). The City of Cedar Park (the "city") received a request for information pertaining to specified incidents involving a named individual. You state that some of the requested information either has been or will be released. You claim that other responsive information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108 and 52.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the information you submitted. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information that other statutes make confidential. Section 58.007 of the Family Code provides in part: (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), law enforcement records and files concerning a child and information stored, by electronic means or otherwise, concerning the child from which a record or file could be generated may not be disclosed to the public and shall be: (1) if maintained on paper or microfilm, kept separate from adult files and records; (2) if maintained electronically in the same computer system as records or files relating to adults, be accessible under controls that are separate and distinct from controls to access electronic data concerning adults; and (3) maintained on a local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal depository, except as provided by Subchapters B, D, and E. . . . (e) Law enforcement records and files concerning a child may be inspected or copied by a juvenile justice agency as that term is defined by Section 58.101, a criminal justice agency as that term is defined by Section 411.082, Government Code, the child, and the child's parent or guardian. . . . (j) Before a child or a child's parent or guardian may inspect or copy a record or file concerning the child under Subsection (e), the custodian of the record or file shall redact: (1) any personally identifiable information about a juvenile suspect, offender, victim, or witness who is not the child; and (2) any information that is excepted from required disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, or other law. Fam. Code § 58.007(c), (e), (j). Section 58.007(c) is applicable to records of juvenile conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997. See Act of June 2, 1997, 75th Leg., R.S., ch. 1086, §§ 20, 55(a), 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4179, 4187, 4199; Open Records Decision No. 644 (1996). The juvenile must have been at least 10 years old and less than 17 years of age when the conduct occurred. See Fam. Code § 51.02(2) (defining "child" for purposes of Fam. Code tit. 3). Section 58.007(c) is not applicable to information that relates to a juvenile as a complainant, victim, witness, or other involved party and not as a suspect or offender. The information submitted as Exhibits B and C involves juvenile offenders and thus is generally confidential under section 58.007(c). See id. § 51.03(a)-(b) (defining "delinquent conduct" and "conduct indicating need for supervision" for purposes of Fam. Code tit. 3). In this instance, however, the requestor is a parent of one of the juveniles involved. You acknowledge that the requestor has a right to inspect juvenile law enforcement records concerning her child pursuant to section 58.007(e). See id. § 58.007(e). You claim, however, that Exhibits B and C are excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. Section 58.007(j) of the Family Code provides that information subject to any other exception to disclosure under the Act or other law must be redacted. See id. § 58.007(j)(2). Accordingly, we will address your claim under section 552.108. Section 552.108(a)(1) excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime[.]" Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). A governmental body must reasonably explain how and why section 552.108 is applicable to the information at issue. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). We note the submitted information includes citations. Because copies of the citations have been provided to the individuals who were cited, we find release of the citations will not interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Therefore, the citations we have marked may not be withheld under section 552.108(a)(1). You state that Exhibits B and C are related to a pending prosecution in the city's municipal court. Based on your representation, we conclude that release of the remaining information Exhibits B and C would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime See Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases). However, section 552.108 does not except from disclosure basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime. Gov't Code § 552.108(c). Basic information refers to the information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-87; Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). Therefore, with the exception of the citations and basic information, the city may withhold the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. (1) However, the city may not release any personally identifiable information, contained in the citations or as basic information, concerning any juvenile suspect, offender, victim, or witness other than the juvenile suspect to whom the requestor is a parent or guardian. See Fam. Code § 58.007(j)(1). The citations contain information that is subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. Section 552.130 provides that information relating to a motor vehicle operator's license or driver's license issued by a Texas agency is excepted from public release. Act of May 24, 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., S.B. 1638, § 4 (to be codified as an amendment to Gov't Code § 552.130(a)). Accordingly, the city must withhold the Texas driver's license information we have marked in the citations under section 552.130 of the Government Code In summary, with the exception of basic information and the submitted citations, the city may withhold Exhibits B and C under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. However, in releasing the basic information and the submitted citations, the city must redact any information that identifies or tends to identify a juvenile suspect, offender, victim, or witness under section 58.007(j)(1) of the Family Code, other than the juvenile suspect to whom the requestor is a parent or guardian and withhold the marked information under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The remaining information must be released. This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances. This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free, at (888) 672-6787. Sincerely, Paige Lay Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division PL/akg Ref: ID# 435284 Enc. Submitted documents cc: Requestor (w/o enclosures) Footnotes1. We note that the requestor has a special right of access to the information being released in this instance. Because such information is confidential with respect to the general public, if the city receives another request for this information from a different requestor, the city must again seek a ruling from this office.
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